ANKARA

The chief executive officer of Turkish drone manufacturer Baykar was awarded a state medal Tuesday in Burkina Faso, where the company’s Bayraktar TB2 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been exported. 

Haluk Bayraktar received the Ordre de L'etalon Officier medal, the country's highest national honor, by the order of Burkina Faso’s President Ibrahim Traore for his outstanding and exceptional contributions to the West African nation’s peace, security and counter-terrorism activities.

Bayraktar was presented with the medal by André Roch Compaoré, the country's grand chancellor, at a ceremony held in the capital Ouagadougou.

Bayraktar later met with President Traore, who thanked him for his work.

The Bayraktar TB2 is Baykar's most well-known and extensively covered system, with a wide range of combat experience from Libya to Karabakh and most recently Ukraine.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz